Betrayed
by Melissa Brooks
Summary: Starr turns to Markko for comfort when she finds out that Cole has been cheating on her.
1. Chapter 1

Betrayed:

AN: I do not own the characters in this story. They belong to ABC's One Life to Live. This story is written for entertainment purposes only.

Starr nervously opened up her apartment door. Today was the day that Cole was going to be released from jail. She wanted to surprise him by picking him up but she didn't know when he was going to be released. She still needed to unload the groceries and then she planned on giving Marty a call to find out what was going on. If she had enough time then she would make Cole dinner. She had just finished dropping Hope off at her mom's. She needed this time to reconnect with Cole.

Their relationship had been strained for months ever since Marty was pushed down the stairs. Marty's fall had pitted Starr and Cole on opposite sides. Cole believed that Starr's father had pushed Marty down the stairs thanks to Hannah who claimed to have witnessed the whole thing. Starr believed that her dad was innocent and would never intentionally push anyone, let alone, Marty down a flight of stairs. Starr believed that Hannah was responsible and was using Marty's fall to come between her and Cole, but Cole refused to listen to her regarding Hannah's intentions.

Starr still had nightmares about witnessing Cole beat her father in the high school gym. She couldn't get the crazed look that Cole had that day out of her mind. Cole still refused to apologize or even admit that he had done anything wrong, but he had. Starr hoped that in time she could forgive Cole and that they could get their relationship back on track.

Starr was putting away the groceries when she heard a noise coming from her bedroom. She grabbed a knife in case it was an intruder and proceeded cautiously to the bedroom. When she opened the door she saw a completely naked Hannah lying on her bed. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" Starr asked.

"Hannah, are you coming in? The water feels great," Starr could hear Cole ask. His voice came from the direction of the bedroom bathroom.

"Starr, it's not what it looks like," Hannah began to explain.

"Save it."

Starr opened up the bathroom door and saw that Cole was in the process of showering.

Cole shut off the shower when he saw Starr standing in the doorway. He grabbed a towel, "Starr, what are you doing here? I thought you had moved out?"

" I changed my mind. I thought that we were worth saving and I wanted to surprise you with a romantic evening tonight, but it looks like you had other plans," Starr said as she motioned her head towards Hannah.

"I'm sorry, but Hannah's been there for me, you've been too busy coddling her psycho father."

"You know what, I am tired of arguing with you, if you want to believe a slut like Hannah then go ahead, we're through. I don't know what I ever saw in you. I hope you burn in hell." Starr said as she turned around and walked out.

"Starr wait..."

"Let her go Cole, it's better this way." Starr heard Hannah say before she slammed the door to her apartment.

Markko was jogging through the park; he had been doing that a lot lately since he had broken up with Langston. When he had found out that Langston had been cheating on him he had lost everything. He not only lost Langston, but he had also lost Starr and Cole. Starr and Cole had known about Langston's cheating ways and decided not to tell him. They took her side over his and he was having a hard time getting over their betrayal. He had a lot of free time now and running helped him clear his head.

He turned the corner and saw Starr sitting by herself on one of the park benches. He was going to turn around and go the other direction, but the look on her face haunted him. It was a look he knew all to well. Somebody had hurt Starr and in the moment, Markko could no longer think of all the reasons that he had to be mad at her. She was hurting and he would be the kind of friend to her that he wished that they had been to him when Langston had been playing him for a fool.

"Starr, are you okay?" Markko asked as he sat down next to his friend.

"Cole and I are through."

"You've had fights before, you'll work it out. You're Starr and Cole… you always work it out."

"Not this time Markko, not after what he's done," Starr said as she burst into tears.

Markko put his arms around her and pulled Starr into an embrace.

"Is this about what he did to your father. I know that was hard for you to see, but Cole believes that your dad hurt his mom. He lost his mind. You just need to give him..."

"It's not that," Starr cut him off, "Cole's been sleeping with Hannah."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah. I walked in on them."

Markko didn't know what to say. He never thought that Cole would ever be the one to cheat; of course, he never thought that Langston would have cheated either.

"That sucks. I'm sorry," Markko said.

Starr leaned her head on Markko's shoulder. "I know. If anyone would understand it would be you." Markko and Starr just sat there on the bench watching the sun set behind the Llantana Mountains.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Starr woke up feeling completely exhausted. It had been a week since Starr had found out that Cole had betrayed her for Hannah. She hadn't slept much because every time she closed her eyes, flashes of Hannah and Cole being together would keep her from finding sleep.

There was a knock on the door. Starr rolled her eyes and got out of bed. "Mom, I just want to be left alone," she said before she answered the door to find Markko there.

"I'm sorry Starr, if you want to be left alone, I'll go," Markko said as he turned to leave.

"No Markko, please stay, I could really use a friend right now. I tried confiding in Lang but she just made excuses for Cole."

Starr, can I ask you a question?" Markko asked as he sat down on the bed.

"You can ask me anything you want," replied Starr as she sat down on the bed.

"Why didn't you tell me about Langston and Ford?"

"She told me that it was a mistake and that it would never happen again. She was my friend, I didn't want to betray her and I foolishly believed her when she told me that she had ended it with Ford."

"I'm your friend too."

"You're right, I should have told you. I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

"You were in a difficult position to be in, I understand that you were torn between Langston and  
>me, so I forgive you," Markko said as he leaned over and hugged Starr."Now, I'll leave you to get dressed so I can take you to breakfast,"<p>

"Okay, I'll meet you downstairs." Starr changed and then headed down the stairs. "You ready to go?"Starr asked Markko as she walked in the living room.

"Of course, I'm always ready to eat."

Starr grabbed her jacket when there was a knock at the door. Starr opened the door to find a sharply dressed stranger.

"Starr Manning?"

"Yeah?"

"You've been served," the man said as he handed Starr a envelope.

Starr shut the door and then opened up the envelope. She dropped the paper. He had taken everything from her. He had her heart, faith and trust and he had thrown it all away for Hannah, but now he had gone too far. If he wanted a fight, she would fight.

"What's that?"

"Cole is suing me for custody of Hope."

Markko wrapped his arms around Starr. There was nothing that he could say to take away her pain, but he would stand by her side and he would do everything he could to make sure that she didn't lose Hope on top of everything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Betrayed chapter Three

Cole was trying to get some sleep, he had the worst hangover and he wasn't having any luck getting rid of it especially when some moron was pounding on his front door. He got up and answered the door to find Markko there.

"Markko, what's going on buddy? You missed one he'll of a party last night."

"From the looks of it, I didn't miss much," Markko said as he shook his head in disappointment. "I'm here because I'm your friend and somebody needs to tell you that you're being a jackass."

"Are you still mad at me for not telling you about Langston?"

"Yeah, but that's not why I'm here. Right now I'm more upset about how you're treating Starr. She loves you, how could you betray her with that slut Hannah and if that wasn't bad enough you're trying to take her child away from her."

"Starr left me with no choice. She chose her father over me, she turned her back on me and as for Hope, she's my child too. Markko, I'm not trying to take her away from her mother, I'm just trying to make sure that I don't lose Hope."

"Starr has never kept you from Hope what makes you think that she'll start now?"

"Starr is hurt right now and that's all the opening that Todd will need. Hannah seems to think that Todd will talk Starr into taking Hope from me."

"What do you think? Do you honestly think that Starr would use Hope to get even with you?"

"I don't know. Look at her parent's history, I can't take the chance. I've got to win custody and then I'll let Starr see her if she wants to?"

"I'm glad Starr is through with you. You don't deserve her, maybe you never did."

"You care about her don't you?"

"Yeah, she's my friend."

"That's not what I mean. You're falling for her. She means more to you than just a friend. Just look out for her okay, I know I hurt her, I don't want to see her hurt again. I still care about her."

"Then don't take her child away from her," Markko said hoping that he was getting through to Cole.

"I'll think about what you said."

"Okay, that's all I'm asking. I'll call you later," Markko said and then he left.

Cole was right, he was falling for Starr. At first he just wanted to be there for Starr because he knew what it felt like to be betrayed, but now all he wanted to do was to hold her in his arms and let her know how much she had come to mean to him. He needed to see her, he needed to be with her in whatever way she would let him. Markko drove to Starr's trying to gain the courage. Tonight he was going to put his heart on the line and let Starr know how much she had come to mean to him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Starr opened up her bedroom door and was pleasantly surprised to see Markko. He had become her best friend and she honestly didn't know how she would have gotten through Cole's betrayal if it wasn't for Markko. There were days Starr could barely function let alone provide explanations of how she was doing and feeling. Markko just let her exist, no explanations needed, but more than anything she didn't have to put how she feels into words because he already understood.

"Markko, I'm so glad that your here," Starr said as she gave him a hug.

Markko pulled away from the hug and walked into Starr's room. He was so nervous and thought about walking away, but this was something he needed to do. He needed to tell Starr how much she had come to mean to him.

"What's wrong?" Starr asked.

"There's something that I need to talk to you about."

"You can tell me anything," Starr said as she grabbed Markko's hand and gave it a friendly squeeze of encouragement.

"Starr, I like you."

"I like you too Markko, you've been a really good friend to me."

"Starr, I'm not explaining this right. I have feelings for you. I don't just want friendship with you, you mean so much more to me than just a friend. I want to be your everything." Markko said as he pulled her into a kiss.

Starr had never thought of Markko as more than a friend before, all she knew was in this moment, when Markko kissed her she felt a tingling sensation all over and she didn't want it to end. It felt right and simple to kiss Markko. Things with Cole had always been so complicated, things with Markko, on the other hand had always been easy, like they were a perfect fit.

Markko pulled away from the kiss, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that. If you don't feel the same way about me, that's okay, I'll accept it. I just don't want to lose you."

" I don't want to lose you either and honestly I've never thought of you as more than a friend, but when you kissed me just now, I didn't want it to stop, so please don't be sorry cause I'm not. Starr leaned into him closer and pulled him in for another kiss.

"Starr, Cole's..." Blair stopped mid- sentence as she and Cole stared at Starr kissing Markko, "I'm sorry, I should have knocked," Blair stated.

Starr pulled away from Markko and looked at Cole. "What do you want?" Starr asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about our daughter."

"You mean the daughter you're trying to take from me?" Starr sarcastically asked.

"I'm going to leave you kids to talk," Blair said as she turned around and left.

"I got to get going as well, I'll call you later Starr," Markko said as he headed for the door.

"Wait Markko, you should stay. You're part of the reason I'm here."

"He is?" Starr asked.

"Yeah he came by earlier and helped me to see what a Jackass I've been to you. I'm sorry Starr, about everything. I'm not going to take Hope from you."

"You're dropping the custody suit?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?" Starr asked.

"It means that I'm filing for joint custody. I think that Hope needs both her parents.

"I can live with that arrangement. Thank you Cole for coming by, I'll call you later and we can discuss Hope's schedule."

"Bye Starr, Markko," Cole said as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

"You're a miracle worker. Thank you so much, how can I ever repay you?"

"You can let me take you to dinner."

"Deal," Starr said and then she took Markko's hand and left. It was the first time since Cole betrayed her that she had felt genuinely happy and Starr knew that her happiness was because of Markko.

The End


End file.
